Heel with core



Nov. 30, 1965 G. A. E. COUTURE 3,220,123

HEEL WITH CORE Filed Feb. 6, 1964 I NVEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS United States latent C 3,220,123 HEEL WHTH CORE George A. E. Couture, Quebec, Quebec, Canada, assignor to St. Lawrence Manufacturing Company, inc, Giifard, Quebec, Canada, a corporation of Quebec, Canada Filed Feb. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 343,097 1 Claim. (Cl. 3635) The present invention relates to a heel construction particularly useful in the manufacture of skate shoes and the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a heel construction which is less expensive to manufacture and attach to a skate shoe, particularly for ice skates, than those used heretofore. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a skate shoe heel which is waterproof, rugged, attractive in appearance and useful for a range of different sized skate shoes.

The heel of a skate shoe is attached to the sole of the shoe and partially supports the skate blade. This heel does not normally come in contact with the ground or ice, and consequently can be attached to the sole of the skate shoe by driving nails through the bottom of the heel and clinching them to the sole. The present invention takes advantage of this fact and provides a heel construction which may be secured to skate shoes over a range of sizes easily and securely, and which may be suitably trimmed and finished on the skate shoe to which it is attached.

The present heel construction has a shell of molded plastic material. This shell includes a base with continuous upstanding sidewalls contiguous with the periphery of the base. These sidewalls have a thickness which permits them to be trimmed so as to be useful with skate shoes over a range of sizes. The upper surfaces of the sidewalls are contiguous with one another, and the side and rear sidewalls are beveled upwardly from the inner edges of the sidewalls to the outer edges of the sidewalls. This tapered surface permits a pressure contact between the sidewalls of the shell at the periphery of the sole in the heel area so as to provide a more effective watertight seal. A filler of suitable material is contained within the shell preferably with the upper surface of the filler no higher than the inner edges of the sidewalls.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a heel construction embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross section of the heel construction of the present invention after it has been secured to a skate shoe but before it has been trimmed and otherwise finished.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 there is illustrated a shell formed of a suitable molded plastic material such as polyethylene, vinyl acetate or chloride which has the requisite strength, density and hardness for use as a heel shell, and which may be shaved, scoured and buffed to a finish. This shell is molded with a base, a bottom 11 and sidewalls 12, 13, 14 and 15. These upstanding sidewalls are continuous with one another and are contiguous with the periphery of the base. The sidewalls have a thickness 16 which is preferably between A1" and /2". If desired, forward sidewall 12 may be thinner than the sidewalls 13, 14 and 15. The upper surfaces 12', 13', 14' and 15 of the sidewalls are continuous with one another.

'azzaiz's Patented Nov. 30, 1965 3 ice Sidewalls 13, 14 and 15 are not clearly delineated from one another as they are formed with an arcuate or horseshoe shape to conform with the heel of the shoe. The outer edges 36, 31 and 32 of the surfaces 13', 14 and 15' respectively are preferably coplanar with one another. The inner edges 33, 34 and 35 of the surfaces 13', 14 and 15, respectively, are also preferably coplanar but on a level lower or closer to the base of the shell than the upper edges 30, 31 and 32. The surfaces 13', 14' and 15', if desired, may be slightly concave from their inner edges to their outer edges. The surface 12' is preferably concave along its length from surface 13' to surface 15, but is preferably formed with its inner edge 36 and outer edge 37 coplanar and parallel with one another. The center portion of the upper surface 12' may be lower than the inner edges of the side and rear sidewalls.

Contained within the shell 10 is a filler 17. This filler may be formed of any suitable material and does not have to be of the same density as the shell 10. The filler material may, for example, be formed of paperboard, fiberboard, leather, wood, wood fiber, or rigid foam. While the filler material need not have the same density or rigidity as the hell, it should have sufiicicnt density so that it will not significantly compress under pressures placed on the base 11. The filler may, however, have a slight degree of compressibility so that the filler may be cut to a size such that it will extend slightly above the center portion of the upper surface of the forward sidewall. When the heel construction is secured in place the filler will be slightly compressed to assure the recess formed by the sidewalls is completely filled. The filler 17 may, if desired, be die cut or blanked to a size substantially the same as the dimension defined by the inner surface of the sidewalls 12, 13, 14 and 15, so as to provide a relatively tight fit between the filler 17 and the sidewalls.

After the filler 17 is placed in the shell 11 the assembly is ready for attachment to a skate shoe. Since the walls 12, 13, 14 and 15 have a substantial thickness, one shell and filler combination may be used for skate shoes over a range of sizes. The shell and filler combination is secured to the sole 19 of a skate shoe, as illustrated in FIG. 4 by suitable means such as a nail 20. Normally, in securing this shell and filler combination, nails are driven upwardly from the bottom through or into a skate shoe sole 19 where they may be suitably clinched, as indicated at 21. The outer dimensions of the shell may be somewhat larger than the dimensions of the skate shoe sole at the heel so that sidewalls 13, 14 and 15 of the shell project beyond the skate shoe in the heel area, as illustrated at 22. Under these conditions, once the shell and filler are securely attached by nails, or other suitable means, the shell may be finished by rough shaving the projecting sidewalls as illustrate-d at 22, until the outer periphery of the shell is aligned with the outer periphery of the upper 24. The forward sidewall 12 extends across the sole adjacent the instep and, as described, has a concave upper surface to conform with the lower surface of the sole.

The rough shaved surface of the trimmed sidewalls may be fine scoured and subsequently buffed to render the exposed surface of the shell with a satisfactory high polished finished surface.

Utilization of a wall thickness that is sufiicient to produce a shell over a range of sizes of skate shoes, and the use of a relatively inexpensive filler in combination with the shell permit the manufacture and application of relatively inexpensive heel constructions to skate shoes. Utilization of the beveled surfaces in limited area contact with the periphery of the shoe sole 19 provides sufficient pressure when the heel shell is firmly secured by nails 29 to provide a relatively watertight construction.

Having described my invention, I claim:

A heel for use in a skate shoe construction comprising,

a shell of molded plastic material having a base and continuous upstanding forward, side and rear sidewalls contiguous with'the periphery of said base,

said side and rear sidewalls having upper surfaces contiguous with one another and bevelled upwardly from the inner edges thereof to the outer edges thereof, with said inner edges coplanar, said outer edges coplanar, and said inner edges closer to said base than said outer edges,

. said forward sidewall having an upper surface contiguous with said side sidewalls and concave toward said base, with the center portion of said surface of said forward sidewall closer to said base than said inner edges of said side sidewalls, and

4 a filler contained within and entirely filling said shell with the upper surface thereof substantially no higher than said side sidewalls but higher than the lowest point of the upper surface of said forward sidewall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 15 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

FRANK I. COHEN, Examiner. 

